Ofcom raps Flybe for breaking TV weather sponsorship rules
08.07.08
Ofcom, the media regulator, has reprimanded Flybe for using advertising messages in their sponsorships of ITV weather bulletins, Marketing Week reports. The regional budget airline, which sponsors STV Weather and ITV West Country Weather, was found to be in breach of rules requiring sponsor credits to be distinct from advertising.
A number of Flybe sponsorship credits included references to services such as online check-in, reward points, VIP lounges and a seating service, which Ofcom rules to be advertising messages. On reviewing the credits ITV Compliance accepted that a number were inappropriate and asked Flybe's advertising agency, Souk Communications, to re-edit the idents ‘as a matter of urgency’.
The regulator recorded a breach of rule 9.13, which states that ‘specific or detailed descriptions of a sponsor's business or products are likely to be viewed as promotional and are therefore unacceptable’.
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